Monday, June 4, 2012

Strawberries Filled with Almond Cream

One week of work done. . .a killer one this week! Yes, I am pissed about having to work for no pay during my summer vacation. At some point, its not the $ that matters most...its the freedom to do what you want. There are times when I feel working in a different field would have been much less complicated. Arggghhhhh!!!

I have 3 meetings this week, and I'm expecting a less-than-favorable turnout for 2 of the 3 meetings. The 3rd meeting is about the us drones getting more work so I'm sure everyone will be present.

D1 received her internship assignment: Gemini Observatory (the building, not the telescope site...whew). I guess I'll be packing lunch for her on her "work days" or I'll need to send her to Imiloa with some $ to buy lunch. I'm hoping she'll finish her 60 hours before the summer is over, and I'm hoping she'll get through her internship smoothly. I think I'll try and help her out a bit by making this dessert to share. Her contact has a British accent, so no doubt he is familiar with the strawberries and cream tradition at Wimbledon.

A month ago, when I went to Texas, I was so ono for strawberries. I kept thinking that I would order tons of fresh strawberry desserts. To my surprise, I came across NO fresh strawberry desserts. The closest thing was a cheesecake at the Salt Grass Steak House which had a ribbon of strawberry goo swirled in. While the cheesecake was good, it was not the flavor I was searching for...sweet/tart fresh strawberries.

I have a go-to list of fresh strawberry dessert recipes: pie, pie with a cream cheese layer, sauce for ice cream, bundt cake, layer cake, frosting, etc. But nothing was sounding like "the" thing to make. I remembered seeing a Taste of Home post on Facebook for filled strawberries, and that is where this journey began. Because of my personality when it comes to cooking, I try and find several different recipes for a dish before I decided on the dish to try. After the Taste of Home recipe, I found several other recipes worthy of trying, but I settled on a recipe from a Good Housekeeping cookbook. Unfortunately, when it came time to actually make the recipe, I discovered I was short on some of the ingredients. I had to make do with what I had on hand, but it turned out well. In fact, it turned out better than the actual recipe (I tried it later) because the filling was stiffer. The stiffer filling means that this can be prepared the night before.

Both D1 and D2 gobbled several of these (these were jumbo sized berries). D2 insisted on taking one to her teacher the next day. D1 wanted to bring this to her Biology class party on the last day of school, but the 2 supermarkets I went to were both completely out of strawberries, and I did not feel like paying the ransom for Waimea strawberries at Island Naturals. Don't be sad for D1; she ended up taking Rainbow Jello instead.

Sewing lessons for D1 & D2 begin tomorrow. I took both girls to the fabric store to choose supplies. It didn't go too well...D2 wanted to buy everything, and D1 took a long time to decide what to sew (she took sewing lessons before so can begin with a pattern, rather than a tote bag or pillowcase). D1 will need to schedule her internship hours around sewing, but I don't anticipate that being a problem. Luckily, the Rents, now iPad users, haven't asked us for too much tech support (although there are several of us who can share the pleasure). Now if I could only get this inconvenience called work out of the way, I'd have way more time to do the things I WANT to do on MY vacation.

Wash and dry berries. Slice off stem end. Using a sharp paring knife, slice an "x" deep into berries without cutting all the way down. Beat heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, combine milk and pudding. Beat for 2 minutes. Add almond extract and whipped cream. Fit a pastry bag with a #10 or #12 round tip (depending on the size of berries). Fill pastry bag with pudding mixture. Pipe pudding into strawberries, spreading petals open with fingers to allow more cream to fit.

A word to the lazy: an alternate way of serving this would be to quarter or slice the strawberries and serve the filling in a small dish. The filling can be spooned over the cut strawberries. Slicing the strawberries and using them as scoops for the filling works well too.

If you're still with me, please allow me to share some pics I took this past week:

Nymphaea Devin M.A. Medeiros: plant given to me by Gu. I've been waiting a long time for this to bloom.

Stephanotis: I've been waiting a long time for this to bloom too. I think I finally have enough blooms to make a lei. I just don't need a lei at the moment. The vines are so thick that some cardinals made a nest amongst the growth.

Finally got a pic of both babies together.

One week of work done. . .a killer one this week! Yes, I am pissed about having to work for no pay during my summer vacation. At some point, its not the $ that matters most...its the freedom to do what you want. There are times when I feel working in a different field would have been much less complicated. Arggghhhhh!!!

I have 3 meetings this week, and I'm expecting a less-than-favorable turnout for 2 of the 3 meetings. The 3rd meeting is about the us drones getting more work so I'm sure everyone will be present.

D1 received her internship assignment: Gemini Observatory (the building, not the telescope site...whew). I guess I'll be packing lunch for her on her "work days" or I'll need to send her to Imiloa with some $ to buy lunch. I'm hoping she'll finish her 60 hours before the summer is over, and I'm hoping she'll get through her internship smoothly. I think I'll try and help her out a bit by making this dessert to share. Her contact has a British accent, so no doubt he is familiar with the strawberries and cream tradition at Wimbledon.

A month ago, when I went to Texas, I was so ono for strawberries. I kept thinking that I would order tons of fresh strawberry desserts. To my surprise, I came across NO fresh strawberry desserts. The closest thing was a cheesecake at the Salt Grass Steak House which had a ribbon of strawberry goo swirled in. While the cheesecake was good, it was not the flavor I was searching for...sweet/tart fresh strawberries.

I have a go-to list of fresh strawberry dessert recipes: pie, pie with a cream cheese layer, sauce for ice cream, bundt cake, layer cake, frosting, etc. But nothing was sounding like "the" thing to make. I remembered seeing a Taste of Home post on Facebook for filled strawberries, and that is where this journey began. Because of my personality when it comes to cooking, I try and find several different recipes for a dish before I decided on the dish to try. After the Taste of Home recipe, I found several other recipes worthy of trying, but I settled on a recipe from a Good Housekeeping cookbook. Unfortunately, when it came time to actually make the recipe, I discovered I was short on some of the ingredients. I had to make do with what I had on hand, but it turned out well. In fact, it turned out better than the actual recipe (I tried it later) because the filling was stiffer. The stiffer filling means that this can be prepared the night before.

Both D1 and D2 gobbled several of these (these were jumbo sized berries). D2 insisted on taking one to her teacher the next day. D1 wanted to bring this to her Biology class party on the last day of school, but the 2 supermarkets I went to were both completely out of strawberries, and I did not feel like paying the ransom for Waimea strawberries at Island Naturals. Don't be sad for D1; she ended up taking Rainbow Jello instead.

Sewing lessons for D1 & D2 begin tomorrow. I took both girls to the fabric store to choose supplies. It didn't go too well...D2 wanted to buy everything, and D1 took a long time to decide what to sew (she took sewing lessons before so can begin with a pattern, rather than a tote bag or pillowcase). D1 will need to schedule her internship hours around sewing, but I don't anticipate that being a problem. Luckily, the Rents, now iPad users, haven't asked us for too much tech support (although there are several of us who can share the pleasure). Now if I could only get this inconvenience called work out of the way, I'd have way more time to do the things I WANT to do on MY vacation.

Wash and dry berries. Slice off stem end. Using a sharp paring knife, slice an "x" deep into berries without cutting all the way down. Beat heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, combine milk and pudding. Beat for 2 minutes. Add almond extract and whipped cream. Fit a pastry bag with a #10 or #12 round tip (depending on the size of berries). Fill pastry bag with pudding mixture. Pipe pudding into strawberries, spreading petals open with fingers to allow more cream to fit.

A word to the lazy: an alternate way of serving this would be to quarter or slice the strawberries and serve the filling in a small dish. The filling can be spooned over the cut strawberries. Slicing the strawberries and using them as scoops for the filling works well too.

If you're still with me, please allow me to share some pics I took this past week:

Nymphaea Devin M.A. Medeiros: plant given to me by Gu. I've been waiting a long time for this to bloom.

Stephanotis: I've been waiting a long time for this to bloom too. I think I finally have enough blooms to make a lei. I just don't need a lei at the moment. The vines are so thick that some cardinals made a nest amongst the growth.

49 comments:

I like the drama of the berries being filled individually. They look delicious. My strawberry shopping has been a bit of a fail lately. Seems the berries are past their prime at the store. It must be the oppressive heat and humidity. But I am bookmarking your page, and if I get them before they go south, I'm gonna do this!

I tried a different recipe where you actually have to hollow out the strawberry...MAJOR P.I.A. This recipe is so much easier and more unique looking! You can also sprinkle crushed graham cracker crumbs on top for added variety!

Did you use instant pudding (vanilla flavor)? From what you described, the pudding you used may not have been "instant" pudding, and therefore, did not thicken when added to milk. I hope you will try this again because it really is delicious.

Ooh, this sounds so tasty! And I saw the comment on your pinterest picture that said you could use premade cheesecake filling...yum! I can't wait to try this. I was thinking of drizzling some chocolate over the top, too :) Thanks so much for sharing it!

Love the strawberries and can't wait to make some first time I see good ones. But oh my the Bullmastiffs in the photo made my day. I used to raise them and mine were were fawns like yours. I loved them and miss them so much thanks for sharing the photo.Ann Winberg, Nebraskahttp://craftingtales.com

Wow I love your mastiffs. We have an English Mastiff, 180 lb. baby named Soldier! We got him from an army nurse so felt this name was fitting. He is a handful, but a good dog! Thanks for sharing the pics

You do not add an additional 1/3 cup milk. The 3/4 c milk in the recipe is the liquid which gets mixed with the instant pudding mix. The other liquid in the recipe, 3/4 c heavy whipping cream, gets whipped by itself.

I made these the others day. Only thing I had trouble with was fulling them I couldnt get mine to look pretty like yours. What I did was chilled them after I filled them and then dipped then n chocolate! ! It was a big hit at the office! !!

O.M.G. Just LOOKING at these are a real treat! I can't wait to make some for my kiddoes, and know they will be an elegant addition to one of my jobs as well. Sorry we didn't have any strawberries for you when you visited us here in Texas ... our seasons are very unusual, as are yours. We have warm, hot, VERY HOT, BRUTALLY HOT, a moment of cool, VERY COLD, a moment of cool, then the cycle begins again. Strawberries are not a local produce. I have ABSOLUTELY no complaints about my trip to the Big Island, and especially loved the lush Hilo side. Okay, we loved all the sides, and top and bottom. Camped a good deal. Ate A LOT -- beginning with our food at home to get us in the mood (seriously, though, it will be a while before I make another Loco Moco, though!). There were SO MANY ono options, and we loved 'em (well, except for the cashew "apple" - we're not sure how we felt about that one!). And now I will make another recipe I have "discovered" from the Big Island! he he Mahalo.

No apology necessary for lack of fresh strawberries in Texas. The food and the nice people more than made up for that. In fact, I'm trying to persuade D1 to consider being a Longhorn for her next educational step...yes, I loved Texas THAT much! When you recover from Loco Moco overload and are willing to have them again, please try my burger recipe (http://kikukat.blogspot.com/2012/03/oyster-sauce-burgers.html) from March 12, 2012. Please tell me more about the cashew "apple". I have no clue what that is! Aloha!

I made these for the super bowl a few months ago and everyone LOVED them! I had leftover filling and used it as a dip with graham crackers which was also a huge hit. I used vanilla instead of almond extract.

Just made them for Father's Day brunch but used a mascarpone cream filling instead...now if only there will be any left:) [Use Rachel Ray's mascarpone cream...1/3 C.powder sugar, 1 Trader Joe's tub of mascarpone, 1/3 C heavy cream...use mixer on medium for 2 mins. no more/no less time]

I made these and they are delicious! I followed the recipe except for a couple things. I added MORE whipped cream and I did half the Milk and filled the other half with AMARETTO!!! SPIKED AND SOOOO GOOD! THANK YOU FOR A GREAT BASE RECIPE!!!